Livelihood Project Manager

Organization: Aid Gate Organization (AGO)
Duty Station: Baghdad, with regular travel to project locations
Contract Duration: 6 months
Reports to: Area Programme Manager / Head of Programme
Coordinates with: the donor, government counterparts, AGO support departments, service providers, employers, financial institutions, and other relevant stakeholders

1. Organizational Background

Aid Gate Organization (AGO) is an independent, non-governmental and non-profit organization established in Iraq in 2014. AGO implements humanitarian, development, resilience, protection, livelihoods, economic empowerment, agriculture, social cohesion, and institutional capacity-strengthening programmes in partnership with national and international organizations.

AGO is implementing a livelihood project that aims to support vulnerable Social Safety Net households through tailored economic empowerment pathways, including skills development, livelihood training, entrepreneurship support, coaching, productive asset assistance, employment and market linkages, referrals, and government capacity strengthening.

2. Position Summary

The Livelihood Project Manager will provide overall strategic, technical, operational, and managerial leadership for the livelihood project. The postholder will be responsible for ensuring that the project is implemented on time, within the approved budget, and in accordance with the project agreement, approved proposal, implementation plan, donor requirements, AGO policies, and applicable government regulations.

The Livelihood Project Manager will lead the project team and serve as the principal operational focal point for coordination with the donor and relevant government institutions. The position will ensure the effective integration of livelihoods, entrepreneurship, training, coaching, market engagement, referrals, safeguarding, inclusion, monitoring, government capacity strengthening, and sustainability across all project components.

The postholder will work under the supervision of the Area Programme Manager / Head of Programme and will provide timely updates on implementation progress, risks, challenges, budget performance, stakeholder engagement, and required management decisions.

3. Key Responsibilities
4. Project Leadership and Management

• Provide overall leadership and direction for the planning, implementation, monitoring, and completion of the project.
• Translate the approved project agreement, proposal, budget, results framework, and implementation schedule into detailed operational plans.
• Develop and regularly update the project work plan, activity schedule, procurement plan, staffing plan, spending forecast, risk register, and monitoring plan.
• Ensure that all project activities are delivered according to the approved scope, targets, quality standards, timelines, and budget.
• Lead regular project review and coordination meetings and ensure that agreed actions are documented, assigned, and followed up.
• Identify implementation challenges and establish timely corrective measures in consultation with the Area Programme Manager / Head of Programme.
• Ensure effective coordination and integration among technical, programme, MEAL, finance, logistics, procurement, safeguarding, and compliance functions.
• Maintain a clear project filing, documentation, and information-management system.

1. Technical Oversight

• Provide technical and managerial oversight for beneficiary outreach, registration, assessment, selection, enrolment, and economic pathway planning.
• Ensure that household economic assessments are completed consistently and used to develop appropriate economic empowerment pathways.
• Oversee livelihood skills training, entrepreneurship development, business planning, coaching, mentoring, productive asset assistance, employment linkages, and referral services.
• Ensure that project interventions are informed by labour market assessments, value-chain analysis, employer demand, and available economic opportunities.
• Guide technical specialists in developing and adapting training curricula, facilitation materials, assessment tools, coaching frameworks, and implementation guidelines.
• Ensure training activities follow appropriate quality standards, adult-learning principles, occupational safety requirements, and competency-based approaches.
• Oversee engagement with employers, private-sector actors, training providers, business-development service providers, financial institutions, and market actors.
• Ensure that beneficiaries receive appropriate post-training follow-up, coaching, mentoring, and market-linkage support.
• Promote practical and sustainable employment, self-employment, and enterprise-development outcomes.

1. Government Capacity Strengthening and Handover

• Lead coordination with the Social Protection Authority, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, and other relevant government institutions.
• Support the development and implementation of the Government Capacity Strengthening Plan in coordination with the donor and government counterparts.
• Oversee Training of Trainers programmes, coaching, shadowing, on-the-job training, workshops, and learning-by-doing activities for government personnel.
• Ensure the active involvement of social workers, agricultural extension workers, government focal points, and relevant technical staff throughout the project cycle.
• Facilitate the gradual transfer of relevant knowledge, systems, tools, and implementation responsibilities to government counterparts.
• Lead the preparation and implementation of the project handover and sustainability plan.
• Document capacity improvements, lessons learned, institutional gaps, and recommendations for the future scaling-up of the project model.

1. Team Management

• Provide direct leadership, supervision, coaching, and performance management to project personnel.
• Establish clear responsibilities, performance objectives, deliverables, and reporting arrangements for all team members.
• Facilitate staff induction and ensure that personnel understand the project agreement, technical approach, work plan, budget, targets, and compliance requirements.
• Conduct regular individual and team performance reviews and provide constructive feedback and professional-development support.
• Promote effective teamwork, accountability, respectful communication, and collaboration across programme and support departments.
• Identify staffing or capacity gaps and recommend appropriate recruitment, training, or technical support.
• Ensure staff timesheets, leave plans, field movements, activity assignments, and performance records are properly maintained.
• Ensure adequate staff presence and supervision at activity and service-delivery locations.

1. Coordination and Representation

• Serve as the principal operational focal point for the donor regarding day-to-day project implementation.
• Maintain regular communication with the donor and promptly respond to requests for information, clarification, corrective action, and documentation.
• Represent AGO in project coordination meetings, technical working groups, workshops, reviews, and field missions, as delegated.
• Establish and maintain professional relationships with government institutions, community structures, private-sector actors, service providers, and other stakeholders.
• Coordinate joint monitoring visits and project reviews with the donor, government counterparts, and AGO management.
• Ensure that external communication and representation are consistent with AGO policies and agreed communication protocols.
• Immediately refer sensitive, strategic, contractual, or reputational issues to the Area Programme Manager / Head of Programme.

1. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning

• Work closely with MEAL staff to operationalize the project results framework and monitoring plan.
• Ensure that beneficiary, activity, output, outcome, and financial data are collected, verified, analysed, and reported accurately.
• Monitor progress against approved indicators, targets, timelines, deliverables, and expenditure forecasts.
• Review monitoring findings and ensure that identified gaps are addressed through documented corrective actions.
• Ensure that baseline, periodic, and endline assessments are properly planned and implemented.
• Support routine data-quality assessments, beneficiary verification, field monitoring, post-assistance monitoring, and outcome tracking.
• Promote adaptive management by using monitoring evidence, beneficiary feedback, market information, and lessons learned to improve implementation.
• Ensure that project achievements, challenges, good practices, case studies, and lessons learned are systematically documented.
• Support learning events, reflection sessions, evaluations, and the preparation of evidence for possible project scale-up.

1. Accountability, Safeguarding and Inclusion

• Ensure the integration of safeguarding, protection, gender equality, disability inclusion, conflict sensitivity, and accountability to affected populations throughout the project.
• Ensure that beneficiaries receive clear and accessible information about selection criteria, available services, entitlements, complaints channels, and referral mechanisms.
• Ensure that project activities are inclusive and accessible to women, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups.
• Work with the Safeguarding and Protection Specialist to identify and mitigate protection and safeguarding risks.
• Ensure that complaints and feedback are handled safely, confidentially, promptly, and in accordance with AGO procedures.
• Immediately report safeguarding concerns, fraud allegations, conflicts of interest, data breaches, and other serious incidents through the appropriate reporting channels.
• Ensure that all personnel sign and comply with AGO’s Code of Conduct and safeguarding policies.
• Protect beneficiary confidentiality and ensure responsible collection, storage, use, and sharing of personal data.

1. Budget and Financial Management

• Act as the project’s operational budget holder within the authority delegated by AGO management.
• Work with finance staff to prepare spending plans, cash forecasts, budget-versus-actual analyses, and financial projections.
• Monitor expenditure and ensure that costs are necessary, reasonable, allocable, supported, and consistent with the approved budget.
• Review and authorize project requests and supporting documents within the delegated approval limits.
• Ensure that programme and financial progress remain aligned and that implementation delays do not create significant underspending or overspending.
• Identify budget variances and recommend timely corrective actions or budget revisions.
• Ensure that financial and supporting documents are complete and submitted to the Finance Department within established timelines.
• Support financial reviews, spot checks, audits, verification exercises, and donor monitoring missions.

1. Procurement, Logistics and Asset Management

• Coordinate with logistics and procurement staff to develop and update the project procurement plan.
• Prepare clear and complete technical specifications, scopes of work, bills of quantities, and service requirements.
• Ensure procurement requests are initiated early enough to support timely implementation.
• Participate in technical evaluations and confirm that procured goods and services meet approved requirements and quality standards.
• Ensure transparent beneficiary verification, distribution, handover, and documentation of productive assets and other project assistance.
• Monitor the proper use, maintenance, and tracking of project equipment and assets.
• Ensure compliance with AGO and donor procurement, logistics, inventory, and asset-management requirements.

1. Risk Management and Compliance

• Maintain and regularly update the project risk register, covering operational, programmatic, financial, safeguarding, security, reputational, and fiduciary risks.
• Ensure implementation complies with the project agreement, approved project documents, AGO policies, donor requirements, and applicable Iraqi laws.
• Work closely with the Risk and Compliance Specialist to establish effective preventive and monitoring controls.
• Ensure segregation of duties, proper authorization, transparent beneficiary selection, conflict-of-interest management, and complete supporting documentation.
• Immediately report suspected fraud, corruption, diversion, misconduct, data manipulation, or non-compliance through AGO’s established channels.
• Follow up on audit, monitoring, compliance, and risk-review recommendations and ensure timely closure of agreed actions.
• Ensure that programme changes are not introduced without the required internal and donor approvals.

1. Reporting and Documentation

• Prepare timely, accurate, evidence-based, and high-quality narrative and progress reports for AGO management and the donor.
• Ensure that reports accurately reflect activities, results, challenges, expenditure, beneficiary feedback, corrective actions, and lessons learned.
• Review technical reports, training reports, attendance records, beneficiary databases, success stories, and supporting documents before submission.
• Provide regular implementation updates to the Area Programme Manager / Head of Programme.
• Immediately escalate significant delays, risks, incidents, compliance concerns, or changes affecting project delivery.
• Ensure that all contractual deliverables are completed, internally reviewed, approved, and submitted within the required deadlines.
• Maintain adequate documentation and audit trails for all project decisions, activities, beneficiaries, distributions, referrals, and stakeholder engagements.

4. Key Deliverables

The Livelihood Project Manager will be responsible for ensuring the timely completion of the following:

• Project inception and implementation plan.
• Detailed work plan and activity schedule.
• Staffing, procurement, spending, monitoring, and risk-management plans.
• Beneficiary outreach, assessment, selection, and enrolment process.
• Individual or household economic empowerment pathway plans.
• Labour market and value-chain-informed livelihood interventions.
• Training, coaching, mentorship, employment, enterprise, and referral activities.
• Government Capacity Strengthening Plan and associated training activities.
• Stakeholder coordination meetings and technical working-group engagements.
• Accurate beneficiary and project monitoring databases.
• Timely narrative, financial, monitoring, and progress reports.
• Project learning, evidence, case studies, and lessons-learned documentation.
• Sustainability, government transition, and handover plan.
• Final project report and close-out documentation.

5. Minimum Qualifications and Experience

Education

• Master’s degree in development studies, business administration, economics, agriculture, livelihoods, project management, social sciences, public administration, or another relevant field.

A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field combined with substantial additional professional experience may be accepted in place of a master’s degree.

Professional Experience

• At least seven years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian, development, livelihoods, economic empowerment, employment, entrepreneurship, agriculture, social protection, or related programming.
• At least four years of experience managing complex projects and multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated experience managing projects funded by UN agencies or other international donors.
• Demonstrated experience in livelihoods, vocational training, entrepreneurship, business development, employment services, market systems, value chains, or economic inclusion.
• Experience coordinating with Iraqi government institutions, particularly MoLSA, the Social Protection Authority, MoA, vocational training institutions, or local authorities.
• Experience managing project budgets, procurement processes, donor reporting, compliance requirements, and risk controls.
• Experience in Baghdad and a strong understanding of Iraq’s institutional, socioeconomic, and labour-market context are highly desirable.
• Experience supporting government capacity strengthening, institutional handover, or programme localization is an advantage.

6. Required Skills and Competencies

• Strong leadership, team-management, coaching, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent project-cycle management, planning, prioritization, and problem-solving abilities.
• Sound knowledge of livelihoods, economic empowerment, market-based programming, and social protection.
• Strong budget-management, compliance, reporting, and documentation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams and deliver results under tight deadlines.
• Strong stakeholder-management, negotiation, facilitation, and representation skills.
• Ability to analyse implementation data and translate findings into corrective actions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong command of Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and project-tracking tools.
• Professional proficiency in Arabic and English; Kurdish is an advantage.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly to project implementation locations.

7. Core Values and Behavioural Expectations

The postholder is expected to demonstrate:

• Integrity, professionalism, transparency, and accountability.
• Respect for diversity, inclusion, and human dignity.
• Commitment to safeguarding and prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment.
• Zero tolerance for fraud, corruption, discrimination, harassment, and abuse of authority.
• Constructive leadership and respectful teamwork.
• Sensitivity to beneficiary needs and commitment to accountability.
• Responsible management of organizational and donor resources.
• Confidentiality and responsible handling of personal and organizational information.

8. Performance Indicators

Performance will be assessed against:

• Timely and quality implementation of the approved work plan.
• Achievement of project outputs, outcomes, indicators, and beneficiary targets.
• Effective budget utilization and accuracy of financial forecasting.
• Quality and timeliness of reports and contractual deliverables.
• Quality of technical implementation and beneficiary services.
• Strength and effectiveness of team leadership and performance management.
• Compliance with donor requirements, AGO policies, and applicable regulations.
• Effectiveness of coordination with the donor, government partners, and other stakeholders.
• Timely identification, escalation, and mitigation of project risks.
• Quality of government capacity strengthening and handover processes.
• Effectiveness of safeguarding, inclusion, accountability, and data-protection measures.
• Completeness and accuracy of project documentation and audit trails.

9. Safeguarding Statement

Aid Gate Organization is committed to safeguarding children and adults at risk and maintaining a working environment free from sexual exploitation, abuse, harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. The selected candidate will be required to comply with AGO’s safeguarding policies, Code of Conduct, and reporting procedures. Recruitment may be subject to reference checks, identity verification, and other screening procedures permitted by applicable law.

10. Equal Opportunity Statement

Aid Gate Organization is an equal-opportunity employer. Qualified candidates are considered without discrimination based on gender, disability, ethnicity, religion, age, marital status, or other protected characteristics. Women and persons with disabilities who meet the position requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.

Interested applicants must submit their most recent CV to Livelihood Project Manager | AGO

Application Requirements

Interested candidates should submit:

• An updated curriculum vitae.
• A cover letter explaining their suitability for the position.
• Contact details for at least three professional references.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.